Truths Revealed
by sureshot199
Summary: Modern Day Alternate Universe-Fifteen year old JD Dunne is finally adjusted to life his rich and eccentric "uncle" and his friends. One night, though, life his life is turned is on its head when he realizes that important secrets have been kept form his whole life. Now his uncle is in trouble and it looks like he's the only one who can save him. Female non romantic character intr
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: It's been a while since I dabbled in the M7 fandom with our favorite guys. I discovered this story on my computer a few days ago and was reintroduced to the wonderful world of Magnificent Seven. I'm so happy theres still an active base of writers out there! Please share your feedbback and I'd love to see who the new writers are out there. I hope you enjoy this different look at our boys!**

**Chapter 1**

JD Dunne's nimble fingers moved rapidly over the keys of his laptop. His feet were keeping the rhythm of his typing underneath the kitchen table. The fifteen year old was adding the finishing touches to his computer skills project. The assignment was a simple one. He was supposed to design a computer game that your peers might find interesting. Unlike most of his friends who created games full of trigger happy double agents, sword wielding elves, and bloody carnage, JD's game served a much higher purpose. At least he thought so anyway. His RPG took place in the middle of a virtual United Nations meeting room. People would take on the role of ambassadors and they would discuss solutions to the world's problems. JD was smart enough to know that his idea was unlikely to become the next _World of Warcraft, _but he hoped it would at least get him an A in the class.

JD stomach rumbled loudly, the noise echoed throughout the whole kitchen. He had been ignoring it for the last hour, but his hunger was finally getting the better of him. Eboni said that she would be home for dinner, but the clock on the kitchen wall revealed that it was almost seven. JD sighed. He was disappointed, but not surprised that she wasn't able to keep her promise. She had probably had to take over a class again. A sudden thought flashed through JD's mind.

"Maybe she cooked me dinner when I was at school," he said aloud. He sprinted to the left side of the kitchen and flung the fridge door open. He sighed again. There was nothing in the fridge but a cold pizza, a half a gallon of milk, and a couple pieces of fruit. Nobody had bothered to go grocery shopping since his uncle had left on his business trip two weeks ago. The refrigerator was just the rest of the big Victorian house….empty.

Not for the first time this week, JD felt lonely. He reached for the cold pizza and the orange, and began counting the days to when his uncle Ezra would be home again. He talked to him three days ago. Ezra thought he would be home in another week if he could finish wrapping up the insurance deal.

His uncle had sounded strange on the phone, like he had been distracted. JD knew that his uncle worked for an insurance firm that dealt with some of the richest and most powerful men in the world. It was a high stress job, but his uncle had always seemed to enjoy it. He stopped to think about is uncle for a moment. In reality, Ezra Standish wasn't really JD's uncle. He had been a close friend of JD's mother.

Rachel Dunne has been a manager at a hotel in Denver. Life hadn't been easy for the two of them. His father had died in a strange kind of accident before he was born and his mom hadn't talked much about him. Somehow the two of them had managed to make ends meet.

That was until his mother had developed a rare form of brain cancer. Ezra Standish had shown up one day expressing his desire to help in anyway he could. His mother told him that Ezra was an old family friend andand had seemed pleased by the southerner's offer to help.. They had moved into Ezra's big house. JD had taken an instant liking to the man who talked funny, but became like the father he had never had. Over the course of the year, his mother kept getting progressively worse. Finally on a cold February day, her pain and suffering ended.

He remembered being held in Ezra's arms and crying, knowing that things would never be the same again.

When Rachel died, Ezra had offered his home to the young man. JD had readily accepted, and the rest was history. That had been a little over a year ago now.

The door leading out the garage opened and a young woman rushed inside, carrying two bags with her.

"I'm sorry JD! I got caught up tutoring some students," she apologized.

The pleasant aroma from the bags reached JD's nose, but he was much more excited to see the petite olive skinned woman.

"Ebbi!" JD exclaimed, dropping the pizza on the ground and rushing up to hug the young woman. The woman was surprised, but gratefully returned the hug.

"What's this?" she asked, with a smile. Her brown eyes were shining with pleasure. "You made me promise to no signs of affection."

"It's nothing," JD answered, instantly letting go. He turned his head to hide his blush.

"You hungry?" she asked with a smile.

"Yup," JD answered, making his way towards the bags. His stomach began to rumble again. "What did you bring for dinner?"

"I stopped by Inez's and picked you up some hamburgers. I promise I'll cook tomorrow There just wasn't time. Do want to set the table while I run upstairs and change?" she asked, indicating the business suit she was wearing.

"Okay," JD agreed, overjoyed that he wasn't going to have to spend the night alone.

Eboni smiled and disappeared into the living room. JD could hear her high heels clicking up the hardwood stairs.

He reached into the bag and pulled out three hamburgers for himself and two orders of fries. The other bag contained a mandarin orange salad. Eboni was a vegetarian.

The young woman had showed up a few months after he had been officially adopted. Ezra and JD had gotten along great. Ezra would never replace his mother, but he had worked hard to be a good guardian to his adoptive nephew. One of the perks of his insurance job was a large pay check that Ezra thoroughly enjoyed spending on JD. JD remembered hearing a heated argument between Ezra and a mother on the PTO.

"_Mr. Standish, I am worried about how you are raising JD. Clearly you have a mixed up idea of what parenthood is." The petite blonde woman had gotten right in the man's face._

"_Is that so Mrs. Ventos?" Ezra had asked sweetly._

"_My Ryan mentioned that you have bought JD the new Lexon Computer., the one that costs over 3,000 dollars"_

"_Yes, JD has taken quite a liking to computer program design and I thought this computer will help further his talents. It also came with an excellent web cam that will allow us to communicate during business trips."_

"_That's exactly my point; you can't expect buying a toy will replace being there for him. Neither will his own horse, all these trips you send him on, or tuition to a fancy prep school."_

"_Ms. Ventos, how many times has Ryan been to the principal's office?"_

"_That's beside the point. I…"_

"_What are his grades?" _

"_Mr. Standish, I don't see how this…"_

"_JD has informed me that Mr. Ventos has been to the principal's office at least five times in the last two weeks and is in danger of failing two of his classes. Tell me Ms. Ventos, are these desirable behaviors the results of your esteemed parenting skills?" _

"_Mr. Standish, that is uncalled for."_

"_So are your comments. When your son behaves half as well as JD or even manages to accomplish half of the achievements of my esteemed nephew then maybe I will take your concerns under consideration."_

These conversations happened more than once and Ezra usually shrugged them off in public. In private, it was another matter.. Ezra had told JD that he had hired the twenty-four year old to look after him in exchange for room and board. At first, JD had found the young woman with

long black hair and penetrating brown eyes intimidating, but the hesitation hadn't lasted long. She had become the sibling that JD never had. Eboni was working on her doctorate degree in foreign relations and would also go on extended trips, but either she or Ezra would be home so there was always somebody with him.

By the time Eboni came back down in a pair of sweats and hoodie, JD had the table set. The two sat down to dinner. JD immediately started scarfing down his dinner. Ebbi watched him with a look of disbelief.

"I still don't know where all that food goes," she stated before taking a bite of lettuce. "I saw Buck today.

He says to make sure that you're keeping up to speed on your homework."

"Really?" JD asked. Buck Wilmington was one Ezra's partners. There were five of them in all. JD had met them all, but he had had formed a special relationship with the easygoing man. Occasionally if both Ezra and Eboni were gone, Buck would stay with him. "And if I don't?"

"He says you're about due for another noogie," Eboni laughed.

"You can tell him that someday I'll be the one giving him a noogie!" JD stated.

"You've got a bit to grow before you even stand a chance," Eboni laughed.

"I know," JD answered with a sigh. He thought about his small stature. He was the smallest one in his class. Even most of the girls were taller than him. "I don't think I'm ever going to grow…"

"Maybe you will," Eboni answered comfortingly. "And if you don't, that's okay too. My father wasn't a large man either."

JD's interest perked up a little bit. He enjoyed hearing stories about Eboni's father. He had helped supply the Afghani government with weapons to defeat the soviets during the 80's. When the Taliban started to take over the country, he had helped organize the escape of many Afghani citizens. One of them had been Eboni's mother. Eboni had been three years old at the time of their escape. JD had met Eboni's mother many times. The retired lawyer enjoyed spoiling him. Eboni's father had been killed working overseas not long before he had been born. Eboni said he was her inspiration for continuing her work in forgiven affairs. He knew that she spoke several languages and was helping him learn Arabic.

"So I got an interesting email from your principal today," Eboni stated in between bites of her salad. "Seems like he is suspicions that somebody broke into the school grading system."

"Really?" JD asked innocently, but beads of sweat were beginning to pour down his forehead.

"None of the students' grades were tampered with, but whoever hacked into the system added grades for the entire faculty, seems like some of them were less than stellar."

JD took a long gulp of milk. He could feel Eboni's penetrating stare on him He looked sheepishly down at his plate, wondering what he was going to say. He hadn't hacked into the system to be bad. He had just wanted to see if he could do it. He knew that he would be in serious trouble if he got caught.

"They won't be able to remove the fake report cards until they bring in a professional on Monday, so I took a look myself. Some of them seem rather accurate," Eboni continued. "Pretty good joke if I do say so myself. It looks like somebody used the same virus you pulled off our computer at home a few days ago. Good think Ezra took it to work with him." She paused. "I think Ezra will be proud." JD put his glass down and looked at Eboni. "As long as the prankster doesn't get caught.," she added.

"There's no way he'll get caught," JD answered.

"See that he doesn't," Eboni answered seriously, before diverting her attention back to her salad.

The doorbell rang. JD got up to answer it.

"You eat," Eboni stated, "I'll get it." She got up from her seat and walked into the living room.

JD heard the door open. A loud "Rrrr" followed by a scream. He shot out of his chair and into the living room. Eboni was being pinned to the ground by a tall, thin man with long brown hair. The man was dressed in sweats and sweating hard. It looked like he had just been running.

"You bastard," Eboni growled trying to free herself.

"Now what are you going to do?" the man drawled.

Eboni had managed to free her leg enough to wrap it around the intruder. She twisted and got the man off balance enough for her to slide out of his grasp

"Impressive," the man stated.

" Should have kicked you in the balls," Eboni answered grumpily. "I have a half a mind to do it to you now."

"You never know if somebody might be looking to attack you and JD," the man stated, pulling himself to his feet."Always best to be on your guard."

"I doubt they would ring the doorbell," Eboni growled, but took the man's offered hand and let him pull her up.

"Never be too careful," the man answered. He looked up and saw JD standing in the doorway. He smiled.

"Hey Kid, how are you doing?"

"Hey Vin," JD answered, returning the smile. The night was turning out much better than he expected.

Vin Tanner also worked with his uncle, although he was not sure why. He was not the type of man that JD imagined would enjoy selling insurance. Vin had been a sharpshooter with the army rangers a few years ago. Tanner was not a very talkative man, but seemed he seemed to enjoy telling JD stories about his days in the military.

.

"You keeping up with those training exercises I gave you?" he asked.

"Yup," JD answered.

"Between his putzing on his computer and running with you, he's not spending nearly enough time on his homework," Eboni accused.

"Oh come on Ebbi, you know I don't need to spend all that extra time studying," JD whined. "I get an A on all my tests anyway."

"I know," the young woman answered proudly. "You know he's got the top grade in almost all his classes right now?" she asked Vin. "The teachers told me at parent-teacher conferences last night."

"Really?" Vin asked.

JD nodded and looked down at his feet, blushing.

"Way to go Kid!" Vin slapped JD on the shoulder. "Ezra will be proud of ya."

"Yeah," JD answered sheepishly. "What are you doing here Vin?" he asked, looking for a change of subject.

"Well, ahh," Vin stuttered slightly. "I came to see if you wanted to go for a run with me. You know, start getting those legs of yours in shape for track season."

"Yeah!" JD answered, enthusiastically. He looked over at Eboni. "Can I go?"

"Did you get your homework done?" she asked.

"Well, I…"

"JD!"

"Come on Ebbi, I can finish it all in study hall tomorrow. I never have anything to do anyway."

Eboni paused a moment. Vin stepped on her foot lightly.

"Alright, go ahead. But this won't become a habit," she stated sternly, but she was smiling.

JD shot up the stair to change into some running clothes and put on his shoes.

Eboni let out a loud sigh as soon as the teen was up the stairs.

"Parent teacher conferences?" Vin asked with a smile.

"Ezra asked me to go," she answered. "If Travis had told me I'd be keeping tabs on a fifteen year boy when he offered me the job, I'd have told him he was crazy."

"You're doing a great job Eb. He's a great kid."

"I'm not the only one," Ebbie looked up at Vin. "He still talks about the time you took him to the shooting range."

"Really?" Vin asked, obviously pleased. "I should see if he wants to go again sometime. Make it a treat for his good grades. Besides, he's fun too take. He's a little high strung, but he tries so hard."

"Make sure you tell that to Ezra," Eboni stated. "Is there really a reason you stopped by?" She asked. "Or was it just to ruin our peaceful evening."

"Shit, I almost forgot." Vin lifted up his shirt and pulled out a manilla folder that had been tucked into his shorts He held it out the woman.

"Geez thanks," she scoffed holding the envelope out at arm's length.

"Ezra sent these to the office a few hours ago," Vin stated.

"They're surveillance photos of Ricco and his men. Ezra wants them scanned into his computer and then you're supposed to give the copies to Chris. Ezra thinks they are planning on coming to the states soon."

"What's that?" JD asked, bounding down the steps.

Eboni dropped her arm so the folder was at her side, out of JD's view.

"Ahh…Vin's income taxes," she stated.

"Yeah…" Vin answered. "Could never figure out those things on my own."

"Ohh," JD replied, confused. "Why don't you pay for somebody to do it like Ezra does?"

"You think I got that much money Kid?" Vin asked with smile. "Come on, race you the stop sign."

Eboni watched out the window until she could no longer see the two men. The young woman smiled knowing that their four anxious men waiting for her phone call.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She walked up the stairs to a large oak door. She tried the doorknob. The door was locked, just the way it should be. The room led to Ezra's office. It was the only room in the house that was off limits to JD and as far as the kid knew, to her as well. She unhooked her necklace and fit the octagonal shaped pendent into the lock. She turned and the door opened easily. After checking over shoulder, she walked into room.

It anyone was to walk into the room, they would find nothing unusual. A large oak desk set in the middle of the oak furnished room. The only thing on the desk was a desk lamp. Two of the walls contained book shelves with law books and folders full of insurance information. Two paintings were hung on the west wall directly across from the desk. One painting was of a nineteenth century New England country side, painted by a well known artist from the Impressionist Era. Eboni smiled when she looked at the second painting. It was a crude painting of two people sitting on what appeared to be horses riding through the woods. One of the riders was a boy with black hair. The other rider was a man wearing a business suit and looked out of place in the setting of the picture. The artist had scribbled his initials at the bottom of the artwork. One of the paintings would draw a considerably larger sum at an auction house, but Ebbi didn't have to guess which one was more valuable to Ezra.

She sat down at the desk and reached underneath, groping for the lever that she knew was there. After a few seconds, she found it and pushed the metal knob to the left. With the other hand, she pushed hard on the top of the desk, until two wooden flaps flipped down. She reached inside around the edges and up on a wooden slab containing a modern work station. She turned the laptop and the scanner next to it on. Eboni couldn't help, but smile at the ingenuity Ezra put into this office when designing it. The book shelves were on hidden tracks that moved easily if one needed to access to the top secret documents hidden behind the wall. JD's masterpiece covered up a safe containing millions of dollars in different currencies used across the world. There were at least ten other secret hiding places that Eboni knew about, and she doubted that Ezra had told her about half of them.

She had known right away that JD had been the one who hacked into the files. She could picture Ezra's face when he finally had the opportunity to tell him. Of course, he would talk to JD, but any reprimand would be half hearted. Like uncle, like nephew.

She reached for a small button on the phone next to her. She heard the speaker phone ring a few times. As she waited for somebody to pick up, she put a zip drive in the side of the computer. Ezra insisted on backing up everything at least three times. One set of evidence was on his home computer, the second was at the office, and the third would be on this zip drive that would be taken to a safety deposit box tomorrow. She sighed. Ezra's words ringing in her ears.

_"I abhor gambling and leave nothing to chance_."

The man could be so neurotic at times.

"What's up Eboni?" the male voice on the other end asked. She didn't question how the man knew who it was. The secure line led to only one place and she knew who was on duty tonight.

"Hey Buck, I'm scanning the pictures Ezra sent and adding them to the file he's already built on Ricco," she answered. While talking, she opened up the lid of the scanner and put the first picture down. "Looks like he's getting himself pretty deep into Ricco's ring."

"Yeah, deeper than Chris had initially planned. He just about threw a conniption fit when he saw the photos."

Eboni chuckled when she thought of the image. She exchanged one picture for the other.

"I'm backing all the intel up on a drive and then I'll give it to Vin to bring to the bank.

"Tell him to bring it to the Dugout first, Our computer system's been on the fritz and I think we might have lost some of Ezra's files."

"He's going to think somebody' hacking into the files and trying to steal everything." Eboni laughed, but chalked it up as another lesson from her mentor. Maybe Ezra wasn't so anal about wanting to back up everything after all.

"Have you talked to Ezra?" she asked, anxiously.

"He should be calling in about two hours."

"But Chris has the night off," Eboni protested, again changing pictures.

"I'm sure that's Ezra's plan."

.

"Too bad I can't have JD do this stuff. He understands all technology crap more than any of us. In fact…" She stopped talking when she heard a voice coming from downstairs.

"You okay Eb?' the voice on the speakerphone asked.

"Shit! I think Vin and JD are back from their run already," she paused to think. "but they've only been gone ten minutes…" A sudden thought flashed through the young woman's mind. She picked up the pictures and ran them quickly through the paper shredder.

Buck Wilmington was about to tell the girl to get a move on and lock up the office, when a loud crash was followed lots of cursing.

"What the hell was that?" he yelled.

"Shit Buck, somebody just broke into the house. Get somebody over here as soon as you can. I…"

Buck heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots followed by broken glass.

"Ebbi!" he yelled.

A male voice began talking rapidly. Buck knew the man was speaking in Spanish, but he could only make out a few words.

**"**Yo le disparó, ahora su computadora"

Buck's blood ran cold while he quickly translated.

_"I shot her, now get the computer." _

**Meanwhile in Mexico…..**

Ezra Standish leaned back in the overstuffed armchair, sipping the expensive tequila. Standish usually preferred Scotch, but the drink in his hand came from the private stock of Jorge Ricco. Ezra knew better than to spite the man by nor taking up his offer of a drink.

"How are the Spirits mi amigo," Ricco asked, sitting down in the chair next to him with his own drink.

"Muy, muy bueno," Ezra stated making sure he elongated his vowels like any good Canadian would. "You have outdone yourself."

Ricco beamed with pride. At one time, Ezra had believed that all Mexican men were of small stature. That was before Jorge Ricco had broken the obvious stereotype.

Jorge Ricco packed at least two hundred and fifty pounds on his six four frame. A body that easily intimidated any creature that stood in Ricco's way. Thanks to the corruption and lack of regulation practiced by the Mexican government, the Mexican mob had arguably become the most powerful form of law in the northern part of the country. The new leaders that made up the mob dealt in drugs, prostitution and almost every other lucrative illegal activity they were able to think of. There were many men jockeying for the head positions, but none could ever dream of being as powerful as Jorge Ricco.

Ricco's dossier connected him with at least thirty known murders, involvement in fourteen different prostitution rings, and smuggling children to the sick SOB's that wanted them in the states. Ricco was also connected to some of the most powerful businessmen and politicians on both sides of the border. The CIA basically deemed him untouchable, the Al Capone of the twenty-first century

If Ricco was like the Chicago crime boss, then it could be said that Ezra and his teammates were comparable to Elliot Ness and company, poised to bring the man to his knees.

"Let's talk business Mr. Emile," Ricco stated.

"Please, must we ruin such a pleasant evening with such talk," Ezra responded. "I have the pleasure of your company for a few more days which leaves us plenty of time to make the exchange of my weapons for your fine supply of cocaine," Ezra responded, masking the desperation he felt. Things were moving way to fast for him. For the first time in a long time, Ezra felt out of his league. He was up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

"I apologize David, but we will have less time together than I had originally thought. My hijo Gordo is coming home from boarding school earlier than I anticipated. I wish to spend as much time with him as possible."

Ezra recognized the look of a proud father and felt a slight connection to the crime boss. Not for the first time, he realized how much he missed JD. The connection was very brief when Ezra recalled that this man had taken him away from his adoptive nephew in the first place.

The cell phone in Ricco's suit pocket began to ring.

"Excuse me while I take this call," Ricco apologized; He walked out of the room. Ezra welcomed the unexpected time alone. He needed to come up with a plan.

Travis had asked Ezra to pose as Canadian drug dealer David Emile to investigate possible ties between Ricco and a Saudi Arabian rebel leader. When Ezra hadn't found any connection, he was supposed to pull out of the mission and let the American agencies take over. South of the Border crime was not was the purpose of his team.

He hadn't counted on being Ricco's guest at his heavily guarded compound in the Yucatan Peninsula. By the time he had been able to get a hold of his team, he was in too deep to pull out.

If Ezra had been in Dubai or Lebanon, hell even in the West Bank, he would have connections and been able to figure out backup plans if anything went wrong. That was not case here. In Mexico, he was alone and he felt it now more than ever. Before anything happened, he needed to make that phone call to Chris.

The door to Ricco's office opened. Instead of Ricco, two of his large bodyguards entered the room. The men Ricco had hired from Russia. One look at their faces and the former CIA agent knew something was wrong.

"_Shit,"_ he cursed.

He reached for the gun at his ankle, but he was too slow.

Before he knew what hit him, two large men were at this side pulling him out his chair. One was on each arm. The small handgun slid across the floor. One of them pointed an M-16 at back of his skull.

"Gentlemen, I don't know what this is…" He tried to say, but was rewarded with a punch square in his jaw. He could feel the blood start to drip of his lips.

Ricco walked back into the room. The easy smile had been replaced by a storm cloud.

"So one of my nephews just informed by of some very interesting information _Mr. Emile_. It's common practice for me to monitor the communications of my guest for obvious reasons. I'm a wanted man after all.

"It seems like my concern is justified. It turns out all the e-mails you have been sending have not been going to your employees in Montreal, but to a home address of 1312 River Springs Dr. in Denver, Colorado."

Ezra felt his heart drop into the bottom of his stomach. When he had sent e-mails to his laptop at home, he had always made sure they went through at least four different servers first, each delivering the message to different locations around the world. Everything had happened so fast, he had forgotten to check to make sure the servers were working. Apparently they weren't. Oh Lord, if they knew where they lived…

"My nephew and some of his men found this suspicious and went to find out what was at the address…"

Ezra could barely breathe_._

"Tell me Mr. Standish; was a Senorita Eboni Sawyer important to you?"

Ezra had a hot retort on his lips, but was forced to swallow it. The last thing he expected to hear was Ebbi's name.

"It seemed you were quite important to her. One of my men informed me that she killed herself jumping out a window to prevent them from getting your computer."

There had been very few times in his life that Ezra Standish had been unable to keep a straight face. He was unable to prevent the look of horror on his face as he crumpled to his knees, oblivious to the blows that began to torment his body.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Vin laughed out loud as he felt the cold air hit his face. This was what life was all about. He looked to the side of him while quickening up his pace. JD's legs moved a little faster as he easily changed speed to match the man's. Vin was impressed. JD was barely even breathing hard, and Vin had set a pretty fast pace for the last four miles. Vin was glad Ezra had bought a house a few miles outside of town. It provided for peaceful place to run. He and JD ran past his old Jeep that he had parked the street over so he could sneak up on Eboni. They turned the corner for home.

"What the hell?" Vin swore when the house came into view. A large BMW was pulling out of Ezra's driveway and it was heading straight towards them.

"Watch out JD!" Vin yelled, he lowered his shoulder and knocked JD into the ditch. He landed right next to the kid, a mere second before the fast car sped past them.

"What was that?" JD asked, pulling himself to his feet, but Vin didn't hear him. He was sprinting towards the house. His sharp vision had caught the curled form laying in the yard.

"Aww no!" Vin's heart leapt into his throat as he raced towards Eboni's unmoving body.

"Vin!" JD called.

"Stay there JD!" Vin yelled harshly. He didn't want JD to see her, not like this. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure JD had followed his orders, before dropping to his knees next to the young woman's still form. There was blood seeping from a wound near her left shoulder. He noted the broken glass and glanced quickly up at the broken second story window. A shattered laptop was lying next to her.

"Aww shit, Ebbi." Vin's voice choked, as he reached to find a pulse. He was surprised when he felt the steady beating.

"Vin?"

Vin looked over his shoulder and noticed that JD was visibly shaking. He motioned for the kid to come over.

"It's okay JD, she ain't dead."

"Isn't dead," a weak voice corrected.

Vin looked down and saw that Eboni's brown eyes had fluttered open.

"Shit," she swore, in obvious pain. Vin laughed out loud as he felt most of the tension leave his body.

"Vin pulled off his wind breaker and using it to apply pressure to the woman's gunshot wound.

"You hurt your neck or back?" Vin asked. He began assessing for any serious injures.

"I'm not paralyzed if that's what you mean," Eboni smiled slightly. "Hurts too damn much."

Vin smiled. He hadn't received extensive medical training, but he knew enough from his days in the Rangers. He accidentally bumped her foot. She winced in pain.

"Sorry," he stated. "God you look awful."

"Wow Doctor Tanner, you've got a great bedside manner," she shot back.

The gunshot wound was a concern, but a glance at the backside of her arm revealed that it had exited. He glanced at the foot he knocked earlier. Using his sleeve to wipe away the blood, he could see that it was already swelling to the size of a grapefruit. He figured it was broken.

She undoubtedly had suffered a severe concussion and had some pretty nasty cuts and bruises from the glass. The young woman was in bad shape, but things could have been a lot worse. He squeezed her hand. He was rewarded with a smile.

"Ebbi," JD asked hesitantly, coming within a few feet. The poor kid was white as ghost.

"I just hit my head too hard JD," Eboni answered reassuringly. I…"

She stopped talking when they all heard the sound of vehicles coming down the road.

Vin gently slid Ebbi back down onto the ground.

"Get in the house JD," Vin ordered.

"But Vin…" JD protested.

"Now JD!" Vin demanded. He grabbed a hold of Ebbi's uninjured arm and moved it so it was holding onto the cloth stopping the bleeding.

"I want to know what's going on!" JD yelled, matching Vin's tone.

"There is no time for this now." Vin was grabbing for the gun in its hidden hostler on his right ankle. "Get in the damn house!"

"No!"

JD showed no signs of moving. Vin could see the headlights of the truck. He growled and lowered his shoulder, knocking JD to the ground. The teen let out a cry of pain.

"Stay down!" he ordered, taking a protective stance over JD and Eboni.

The car slowly came into view. Vin lowered his gun with a slight smile. He recognized the red truck that pulled to a stop next to driveway. A man jumped out of the driver's seat, gun drawn. His face was as cold and dark as a thundercloud.

JD was terrified as soon as he saw Buck Wilmington. Every time he had seen Buck, the man had always had a smile on his face. There were no traces of a smile now. With the gun is in his hand, he looked ready to kill somebody. A big man with a graying beard got out of the passenger side. They both began sprinting over.

"What's Josiah doing here?" JD asked. Vin ignored him.

"Put your guns down, She's okay!" Vin called.

The two men lowered their guns, but did not slow their speed.

"How did you know?' Vin asked when the two men got closer.

"I was on the phone with her when whoever was here broke in," Buck stated, holstering his gun. The man beside him did the same.

JD was confused. Josiah was one of the professors of international studies at the university. He was a close friend of Ezra and Eboni. Eboni was the TA for most of his classes. He didn't know Buck and Josiah knew each other.

"Vin, what the hell…" Buck stated, and then saw Eboni lying on the ground. "Oh shit."

"I'm okay Buck," Ebbi stated weakly. The words didn't have any effect. Buck still sprinted towards her. Josiah pulled out his cell phone.

"Who you calling?" Vin asked.

"Chris and Nathan, no reason for them trying to kill themselves trying to get over here," Josiah answered. "I'll…"

The sound of screeching tires prevented Vin from hearing whatever the older man was going to say next. A black Ram was taking the corner on two wheels.

"Never mind," Josiah said with a sigh. He walked over to where Buck had pulled the girl up she was leaning against his chest.

JD was pulling himself to his feet. The kid's nose was bleeding. Vin walked over and put his hand on the teen's shoulder.

"I'm sorry JD, I'll…"

"Don't touch me!" JD shrugged off Vin's arm and walked over to where Buck was kneeling next to Ebbi.

'Shit," Vin answered, rubbing a hand over his face.

Chris Larabee and Nathan sprinted out of the truck and into the yard.

"I think she's…" Vin started to say, but neither was paying attention. They raced towards the crowd gathering around the young woman. Vin watched as JD was pushed aside so Nathan could get through.

Vin noticed the tears in JD's eyes as the kid sprinted towards the backyard. He was about to go after him when Chris caught his eye. The blond shook his head.

Vin sighed and nodded. He walked over to where Nathan was giving orders.

"Chris there was..." Ebbi stated, gasping when Nathan gently put his hand on her leg. Chris held up his hand to prevent her from talking.

"How is she Nathan?"

"That ankle is definitely broken. I would like to clean her up a little bit before I bring to her the hospital."

Buck got up and went into the house to look for supplies.

"What about the gunshot wound?' Josiah asked.

"Bullet went through. Of course, we've got to be careful of infection, but…"

"Its fine Nathan," Ebbi stated. "Chris, the men who broke in tonight, they were asking about files!"

"Right Ebbi, but first we need to…" Nathan stated, and then shut his mouth quick. "Wait! Chris if was Ricco's men that broke into that house, Ezra might be in..."

"Josiah, you and Vin get down to the office and wait for Ezra's call. He's supposed to be calling in…" he checked his watch. "an hour."

"You weren't supposed to know," Buck stated.

"I have my ways," Chris answered. "I don't care what's he's doing. Tell him I'm ordering him to get out of there now!"

Josiah nodded his head.

"Let's go Vin," the older man prompted.

"JD…" Vin stated, glancing towards the backyard.

"I'll take care of it," Chris stated.

Vin nodded his head, and followed Josiah to one of the parked cars.

Buck came out the house with ripped up sheets and a first aid kit.

"I did a sweep of the office," Buck stated. "They must have been in a hurry, because they didn't take anything but the pictures." He sighed heavily as he looked at the broken laptop. "Only evidence we've got on the bastard since I'm sure the hard drive is shot on that thing."

Eboni smiled and reached for the laptop. She winced pulling her injured arm back.

'Shit," she swore.

"What do you want Ebbi?" Chris asked.

"Laptop," she gasped. "The zip drive should be there."

Chris picked up the broken laptop. He pulled out the zip drive.

"Are they saved on here?" he asked.

Eboni nodded her head.

"We got lucky there," Buck stated with a smile.

"Luck's got nothing to do with it," Ebbi stated. "Thank god of Ezra's anal attentiveness.

A disapproving clicking noise came from Nathan's throat as he cleaned up the blood.

"What did you want me to do Nathan?" Ebbi asked. "Sit there and let them take all the documents?"

"Just try a little less acrobatics next time," Nathan stated, tying the last bandage.

"Yeah Batman," Buck chuckled.

"I'm going to take her to a doctor. I've done all that I can do now," Nathan said standing up.

"Who are you going to take her to?" Chris asked.

"Dr. Michaels," Nathan stated. "She knows not to ask questions."

"Here Nathan, I'll help you," Buck offered.

Together the two men lifted Eboni so she was sitting in the seat made between their arms.

"Chris, somebody's got to talk to JD," she stated. Chris looked at her. "I think it's time that somebody should tell him…"

"He's certainly not going to accept anything but the truth after what he saw tonight," Buck answered." He's a smart kid and will know if we try to lie to him."

"We should wait for Ezra..." Nathan started to say.

"Ezra's not here!" Chris growled. "The fool might have gotten himself killed already." He turned on his heel and walked towards the backyard.

"If Ezra's really in trouble..." Eboni stated, unable to finish the sentence. The adrenaline that had been pumping through her veins had stopped. The pain had finally become too much. Her head slumped onto Buck's shoulder.

Buck shot a concerned at Nathan who smiled.

"It's okay, it's probably better for her anyway."

"You think its all going to be okay for Ezra?' Buck asked.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Chris walked to the background, clenching his hands in fury. Things were quickly getting out of control and it was literally driving him insane. That damn southerner had defied his orders and went ahead without thinking of the consequences. Things should have ended up a lot worse tonight. The fact that nobody had gotten themselves killed has been based on too many damn coincidences; Eboni being able to get out the window when she did, Vin taking JD running…

Chris shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if the kid had been inside the house at the time of the break-in. If anything would have happened to JD, Ezra would never recover. Not after everything else that had happened already.

He heard footsteps and somebody running away from him. He couldn't help but smile slightly. JD must have been listening to everything from around the corner. When he finally got to the backyard JD sitting on the swinging seat on the porch. When JD heard him coming, JD instantly turned his head, not wanting the man to see him cry.

"Vin didn't mean to hurt you kid," Chris state, trying to figure out the best way to start this conversation. God, he would much be in an interrogation room any day.

JD didn't say a word.

"JD," Chris sighed. "He was trying to protect you and Eboni." Chris noticed that JD was shaking. The poor kid was absolutely terrified. He put an awkward hand on the kid's shoulder, not quite sure of himself.

JD turned to look at him. Chris recognized the look in his eyes. It was a mixture of fear and confusion. Chris recognized the look. He had often seen it on his own face when he looked in the mirror. It was the look a man had just his whole life blow up in his face.

"What happened tonight Chris?" JD's voice was barely more than a whisper. "Where is Ezra?"

Chris knew many people wondered if he still had a heart. He often wondered himself. If there was any part of that organ left, it went out to the poor teen.

Chris sighed and sat down, reaching into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief covered with flowers.

"Here, use this to stop the bleeding."

JD turned and looked at Chris with surprise. Chris correctly interrupted the surprised look on the teen's face and smiled slightly.

"You tell anyone I carry them around; you probably won't like the consequences. My son gave them to me as a father's day present. God knows what my wife was thinking when she let him pick them out." He paused realizing what he had just revealed to the boy. "Has Ezra told you about…"

JD nodded his head. . Ezra had told him once that Chris's wife and son had been killed in a fire a few years ago. Adam, Chris's son, would only have been a few years younger than JD.

JD was taken back. He would never admit it, but he was slightly intimidated by Chris Larabee. Out of all the five people Ezra worked with, Chris had been the least willing to open up to JD. It wasn't like Chris was mean to him or anything; he just sensed that the man wasn't completely comfortable around him. Like Tanner, JD didn't understand why Chris had decided to become an insurance agent. Chris didn't just lack people skills, he was down right scary. He asked Ezra once if Chris scared people into doing what he wanted. Ezra had laughed and said that pretty much summed Chris right up.

"You mind if I sit down? Chris asked. JD shrugged his shoulders. "You want to know what happened tonight?"

"Hell, yes!" JD stated. Chris looked at him with raised eyebrows. JD blushed slightly. He wasn't supposed to swear.

"Sorry." He looked down at his feet.

"It's alright JD," Chris answered. "I think you've earned a few cuss words tonight." He sighed heavily. JD knew he was struggling for words.

"There isn't any way to tell you this kid." There was a pause. "Ezra Standish isn't an insurance agent."

"Huh?" JD asked. "Yeah he is. He's in Mexico somewhere selling an insurance policy to some big businessman on vacation! He'll be home in…"

"JD, Ezra Standish is a covert operative with the State Department."

a few days, we're going to…"JD stopped when he heard Chris's statement. "What?"

"Jesus," Chris rubbed a hand over his face. "Just let me talk for a while okay?"

"Okay," JD answered, mind reeling. "You mean he's like a spy?"

"You don't shut up, do ya kid?" Chris asked, smiling.

"Sorry," JD apologized again.

"You're just like Ezra," Chris laughed. "Yeah," he thought a moment. "Ezra's kind of like a spy, but its not like the James Bond movies you're used to seeing."

JD looked at Chris expectantly, trying hard to keep his mouth shut, so Chris could talk.

The man paused a while before continuing on with his story. Chris's heart was racing. He had stared down some of the most dangerous criminals in the world. Why was he having such a difficult time talking to a fifteen year old boy?"Ezra always said that its best to start at the beginning," JD suggested meekly, not sure if he should be talking or not.

"When did he say that?" Chris asked, slightly amused.

"Well, I punched Tommy Richards at school a few months ago. I was trying to explain what happened to Ezra, but I was talking so fast he couldn't understand. He told me to slow down and start from the beginning."

"Why did you punch him?" Chris asked, pleased that the kid was so able to distract.

"Tommy was a bully and he kept picking on the smaller boys so I decided to make him stop," JD answered. "I was the one that ended up getting the black eye."

"That was brave Kid. Stupid, but brave," Chris chuckled quietly. He seemed to remember hearing this story.

"That's what Ezra said. That's when he started teaching me Judo. Next time Tommy threatened me, I threw him to the ground. He never knew what happened," JD stated proudly.

"What happened next?" Chris asked. He did remember Ezra telling him this story last time they were in Basra.

"Well, they tried to suspend me for fighting, but Ezra convinced them it was just self-defense."

If Chris remembered right, Ezra also threatened to sue the school for not having a strong enough bulling policy. He lost himself in the image of Ezra playing the role of a dad. It was a pleasant image.

"Chris, did something happen to Ezra?"

JD's comment brought Chris back to reality, hard.

"I don't know JD," Chris answered honestly. He wasn't going to lie. The poor kid had already been lied to enough for a lifetime.

"So if Ezra really works for the state department, does that mean you all…"

Chris nodded his head before JD could finish his sentence.

"Alright JD, let's start at the beginning," Chris smiled, despite the worried look on the teen's face.

"This all really starts with your dad." Chris paused, waiting for the outburst.

"My dad? That doesn't make sense! He was killed in a car accident before I was born. Mom said that he coming home from work."

"He was murdered JD,"

'But nobody ever told me…" JD began to protest.

"Everyone was trying to protect you, Kid. Nobody wanted you to get caught up in this whole mess."

"

My dad was a spy too?" JD asked, head reeling.

"Yeah, he was one of best the Agency ever had." There was admiration in Chris's voice. "He must have crossed over the Berlin Wall thousands of times gathering information about the Soviets. There's an entire file cabinet full of his work at Langley. Lots of people admired him, but he made quite a few enemies too, enemies that eventually killed him."

"My dad," JD said shaking his head. "I can't believe it."

"John Dunne was a terrific agent, but he rarely worked alone. He had a partner named David Sawyer." Chris paused once again.

"Wait, I know that name! That's Eboni's dad!" JD exclaimed. Chris nodded his head.

"You already know that Eboni's dad worked in Afghanistan giving weapons to the Mujahideen so they could beat the Soviets. You dad was helped arrange many of the shipments."

"Ebbi and my dad were partners?" JD asked, not believing it.

"But Ebbi's dad was killed when he was working in the Middle East."

"Right," Chris answered. JD watched the man's fist clench and unclench in anger. "As soon as the Russians declared their withdrawal in 1989, this damn country abandoned the Afghanis and left them to try and fix the government on their own, conveniently ignoring the fact that we were the ones who fucked up their country to begin with." Sensing that he was scaring the teen, he softened his tone.

"Your dad and Agent Sawyer had made friends with the Afghani people and weren't willing to sit back and watch the country fall back into the hands of zealots like the Taliban." Chris paused and took a deep breath and looked at JD. "You understanding all this?"

"Yeah, we studied this first semester at school."

"Without telling the CIA what they were doing, both men began working with some rouge KGB members to try and get money to the few intellectual people left inside the border who could actually fix the country. The secret meeting took place inside a suite at a Beirut hotel."

Chris took a deep breath.

"A hired assassin broke into the room and opened fire. All five people inside were murdered." Chris slammed his hand down on the bench. The motion made JD jump. "What a waste of two good men!"

There was a long, uncomfortable pause.

"That's all the questions you've got?" Chris asked, forcing himself to calm down.

JD shifted nervously, not sure how to ask the question. When he finally got the courage to ask it, it just spilled out.

"Why didn't my mom ever tell me about him? There were no traces of any sign in him in our house. Was she not proud of him?"

After taking a moment to digest what JD was asking, Chris smiled sadly.

"That I can't say JD, I never had the opportunity to meet your mother. You'll have to ask Ezra about that."

"Ezra?" JD had been so absorbed in the story about his father that he had forgotten about his uncle

"Your uncle's really the piece that connects this whole screwed up puzzle together." Chris took a deep breath before lunching back into story.

"Back when your and Eboni's dads were the hotshots globetrotting across the world, Ezra was working as a pissant interpreter in their office."

"An interpreter?" JD asked, he difficulty picturing the image.

The teen's reaction made Chris laugh.

"Yeah, I had a hard time picturing it too, but how Ezra ended up working at Langley is a story in itself."

A sudden realization hit. Chris glanced at his watch quickly. Ezra should be calling in soon.

"How did it happen?" JD asked.

Chris's hand clenched. There really wasn't time for this. He should really just drop JD off somewhere and get to work. He looked into JD's big brown eyes that were expecting more. He sighed heavily. God, no wonder this kid had Ezra eating out his hand. Hell.

"Well, you know that Ezra can speak and write in seven different languages ."

"Yeah, he and Eboni are teaching me."

"Not many Americans can speak it today, but twenty years ago the CIA could probably count its fluent Arabic speakers on its fingers and toes. The higher ups knew they needed more translators quickly, because things were really starting to turn nasty in the Middle East. They tried, but they couldn't train their own agents quick enough. They began to look at civilians."

'Is this where Ezra comes in?" JD asked.

"Somehow they got the name of some twenty year old junior attending Harvard business school. They show up at his apartment offering him an opportunity to serve his country in a time of need, to give a sacrifice to a country that had given so much to him."

"That convinced him to join the CIA?" JD asked, skeptically

"Hell no," Chris chuckled. "He demanded a large salary if he were to perform his civic duty. I think they settled on 500,000 dollars."

"500,000 dollars?" JD asked, "just to interpret some stuff?"

"Yeah stuff about sums it up," Chris stated darkly.

"Anyway, the CIA needed him badly and Ezra knew it. You know that he always gets what he wants."

"Not always," JD stated. "But yeah, most of the time."

"Ezra was assigned to work in the same office as your dad and Agent Sawyer. Apparently the three men got along really well. Ezra quickly rose through the ranks, his god given talents seemed to make him the perfect agent. It wasn't long before the CIA was sending him out on his own missions. Your dad was his mentor the entire time. Ezra was absolutely devastated when the shooting took place." Chris didn't mention it to JD, but he had talked with older agents at Langley. Ezra had idolized the older agents, looked up to them like the father figure that had been lacking in his life.

"The Agency told yours and Eboni's mother that their husbands had been murdered during a mission. They couldn't disclose what the mission was, but they believed the Soviets had double crossed and murdered them." Chris paused and looked at JD, as if daring him to speak. "They said that…"

"Hold on, give me a second to think…" JD interrupted. The wheels in his head were spinning. Something didn't make sense. He ran through the beginning of Chris's story in his head. Certain words stuck out…"_working with some rouge KGB members_," "_The secret meeting," "conveniently ignoring the fact that we were the ones who fucked up their country." _One statement stuck out in particular, _"without telling the CIA what they were doing."_

"But the CIA didn't even know they were in Lebanon!" JD exclaimed.

'Exactly," Chris nodded his head. Chris didn't say anything, but his demeanor showed that he was pleased with JD's realization. JD felt his whole body swell with pride.

"That's exactly what Ezra figured out to. He smelled a rat, and you know when he smells something foul he won't let it go until he figures out the answer."

"Tell me about it," JD grumbled. "One time, I broke this little glass elephant that was in the back of one of the shelves, because I was playing with a football inside and he….sorry."

Chris shook his head, but he was smiling.

"Ezra was bound and determined to figure out what really happened to your father and Agent Sawyer. He became obsessed with it, actually. He hacked into computer documents, broke into hidden files, anything that would reveal the true story behind the Beirut shooting." Chris stopped and looked away. JD had never seen that look on Chris's face before. He looked almost sad.

"Did he find anything?" JD prompted, when Chris hadn't said anything for a while.

"Yeah, he found something, a hell of a lot more than he bargained for. He came across an email that nobody was supposed to have seen, an email that should have been deleted a long time ago. You see then, the whole email thing was just getting started, people didn't realize that everything you send…"

"Always leaves a trail," JD stated then blushed.

Chris had to do a double-take. He had learned that statement from Ezra. Apparently, JD was learning more than just what his teachers taught him at school.

"It was an email from a Deputy Director at the time, Jeff Robberts. It was a demand to an Agent Jack Aston to travel to Lebanon, find Agents Dunne and Sawyer and…"

"Kill them," JD whispered quietly.

"Yeah," Chris answered quietly. "You catch on real quick."

"Why?" JD asked the simple question.

"Simple, Richardson felt threatened. Sawyer and your dad were very popular and almost everyone at the Agency thought that one of them deserved Richardson's spot. Richardson decided to take care of them." Chris spoke in a toneless voice, but he could see the same horror on JD's face that he felt in his own heart. How on earth could someone murder two good men, two loving husbands over a stupid job? He was surprised, but also thankful that JD didn't push for more. He still didn't understand it himself and had no idea how he could make the horrible situation make sense to a teenager.

"How?" JD asked.

"I don't know JD; he probably figured out what hotel they were in, kicked down the door and started shooting. That whole damn city is so screwed up, nobody even asks questions over there."

"That's not what I meant. How did they find out they were in Lebanon to begin with. The CIA didn't know were they were meeting."

Chris fought hard to keep his anger down.

"That remains a mystery, but Ezra sure worked his ass off to find out. As soon as Ezra found the E-mail, he decided to go after Aston, but two weeks after he had committed the murders, Aston died of a freak brain aneurism. Weird sense of justice isn't it?"

JD shrugged his shoulders, his eyes pleading with Chris to continue.

"What about Roberts?" he asked.

"Ezra knew he wasn't going to be able to pin anything on Roberts easily. The man was too high ranking. He needed a concrete motive to prove why, and he didn't have one. He did the only thing he could do." Chris stopped.

"What?" JD pushed.

"Convince the three women that loved the dead agents the most that his story was true."

"My mom, Mrs. Sawyer, and…" JD struggled with the third women.

"Eboni," Chris finished with a smile.

"Wasn't she really little…"

"She was nine years old when the murders took place JD, and smarter than a whip. She didn't exactly understand what happened, but she knew something was wrong when her daddy didn't come home."

"So did it work?" JD asked, trying to picture his friend as a nine year old.

"What do you think?" Chris countered.

JD thought about how convincing his uncle could be. He nodded his head, causing Chris to smile.

"You mom was one very persistent lady," Chris continued. "So was Saima Sawyer. They demanded answers, taking the CIA head on. When they didn't get the answers they wanted, Rachel tried to make the story go public. It created quite a stir for a while, I was in the SEALS at the time, and remember reading an article about it. There was a full investigation and everything. They put Deputy Director Roberts in charge of the investigation.

"But that doesn't make sense," JD protested. "He was the one responsible for ordering their murders in the first place!'

"Right," Chris answered. "Anyway to make a long story short, Roberts was somehow able to plant rumors that claimed Aston and Ezra were in cahoots with each other, that Ezra had asked Aston to murder the agents because he was after their jobs."

"What!" JD jumped out of his seat. "That's impossible! Ezra would never kill anyone! Obviously, he loved my dad and Ebbi's father. I hope nobody believed him."

"That's just it Kid, everyone believed Roberts. You see Ezra hadn't made a whole lot of friends in CIA and he was an easy scapegoat. Of course there was never enough information to convict him, but Ezra's reputation was ruined forever.

"But that's ridiculous! What happened after that?"

Roberts eventually left the CIA and is now some big time congressman up in Washington. I talked to Saima and she said strange things started happening after that. Strange men were seen around the house and phone calls started coming in at all hours of the night. It didn't take too long to for her and your mom figured out what had happened. They eventually dropped the case for thier husbands in order to protect you and Eboni."

"But.." JD never got a chance to finish his sentence. He saw Chris tense up and reach for his hip, but his head was immediately yanked up into the air. He yelped as a strong arm was placed on his shoulder and something cold was pushed against his forehead.

"Move a muscle little boy and you aren't going to like the result," a heavily accented voice whispered in his ear.

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	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Let me take a moment to introduce myself Senior. I am "Nikki Ricco, nephew of the famed Jorge Ricco."

"Don't move JD!" Chris growled. "Let him go!'

JD felt the arm tightening around him.

These names meant nothing to JD. JD could feel his heart pounding, but he knew better than to move an inch.

Chris didn't say a word, just stared menacingly. He was furious with himself for letting the man sneak up on him. He had just been so absorbed in talking to JD, that he had been stupid enough not to notice anything until it was too late.

He recognized the name from his own investigations. Nikki Ricco was one of Jorge Ricco's many relatives looking to rise through the ranks of his family's crime ring. The reports he had read on the young man proved that he was mean ruthless. Chris felt his heart jump into his throat. If Nikki was here, that meant Ezra was….He couldn't think about that right now. One wrong move and the kid would be dead.

"I'm assuming you are his father although this little Niño here doesn't look anything you. He's muy bonito, don't you think?" JD shuddered as he felt a hand stroke his cheek. He was able to lower his head enough to see Chris. The man was now standing up, with his gun pointed at Ricco. Chris's face looked downright sinister in the dull glow cast by the porch light.

"Get your dirty hands off him you bastard or you'll see how muy bonito my bullets are in your forehead." Chris remembered reading that Ricco was a convicted pedophile, but his uncle had gotten him out of any serious jail time.

JD felt the hand move from his cheek to his neck and squeeze. He wheezed as he found himself gasping for air.

"You don't want to play games Senior, that's fine with me. Tell me what information about Ezra Standish is in this house sent to this house and nobody will get hurt."

JD would have asked about his uncle, but the chokehold didn't allow him to talk.

Chris started to laugh.

What information?"

"I don't want to play games either Larabee. I sent two of my men inside to steal the pictures that I know Standish has. I don't know what organization you are working with, and I don't care. The girl already died, you want to lose this boy too?"

He was talking about Eboni, JD realized.

"She didn't die," JD wheezed. Obviously, JD's captor was surprised. JD felt the grip around his neck loosen.

"What did you say Nino?"

"I said that…"

JD never got the opportunity to finish his sentence. As soon as he opened his mouth he felt himself pushed to the ground. He rolled to his knees and saw that Chris and the man named Ricco were wrestling around on the ground.

JD took a few seconds register what had just happened. Chris had taken advantage of Ricco's surprise and tackled the bigger man to the ground. Ricco was tall and had at least fifty pounds on Chris. Even in the dark, JD could make out the man's dark Hispanic features.

JD stood still as he watched the fight progress, unsure of what to do. After several minutes, Rico kicked out hitting Chris square in the jaw. The hit left the smaller man stunned. It was enough time for Ricco to reach for the gun that been dropped when the brawl had begun.

"JD get down!" Chris yelled, making a vain attempt to grab for Ricco's ankle.

JD was about to hit the ground, when he heard a familiar voice.

"I wouldn't."

JD watched as a man stepped into the light, gun drawn and pointed directly at Ricco. It took JD a moment to recognize his older mentor. The usually smiling, carefree Buck had been replaced by a man almost as scary as Chris.

Ricco looked up at Buck and smiled, his finger sliding towards the trigger. Buck fired. A split second later, Ricco was holding his bleeding hand and howling in pain.

"I warned you," Buck shook his head. With a disgusted look on his face, he pushed Ricco to the ground with his boot, making sure to shove his face into the ground. He kept the man pinned down with his foot, and pointed his gun down at him. "You okay JD?"

JD jumped at the sudden mention of his name. He looked up at Buck. Despite the circumstances, the man was smiling at him. The old Buck was back.

"Yeah, I'm fine," JD responded, his voice a little shaky. "Who is this guy?"

"Biggest slimeball on earth," Buck responded with a look of disgust on his face. "How about you Stud?"

JD watched as Chris slowly pulled himself to his knees and slowly to his feet.

"I'll live," Chris answered. "JD, I need to you to go inside my truck and get the pair of handcuffs I keep in the glove compartment."

JD thought about protesting for one short second. He looked at Buck.

"Go ahead kid. Ole' Chris and I can take care of this bastard, but we need your help," Buck answered with a smile.

JD knew better than to argue. The realization that his whole life had been turned upside down made the teen's head swim. He realized that his seemingly normal life was never going to be the same again, especially if something happened to his uncle.

**Meanwhile on the Ricco Ranch...**

The room was so dark, it was impossible to tell if he had his eyes open or not. Every little muscle movement caused another shooting pain through his body. He knew he had cracked at least a few ribs, but it was likely his injuries were much more extensive. The humid air in the tiny room that had become his prison cell was doing nothing to ease the pain.

_It becomes much easier to ignore physical torment when one's heart is screaming in agony," _Ezra thought to himself.Eboni Sawyer, the daughter of his mentor and one of the most promising young operatives he had ever seen was dead. Ezra had been one of the first to recognize her unique talent and had given her name to Travis as a possible recruit. He had been so proud the day Chris had offered her a position on the team. In some small way, he felt he was repaying his old mentor.

There was no trace of that pride now, only guilt that was tearing his insides apart.

In his mind, all he could see was an image of Eboni and how he had failed her and her mother again. He would have to answer to six men who had embraced the young woman as their own, but most especially to a fifteen year old boy who had already suffered too much.

He could hear the clopping of boots on the linoleum floor stop outside of his jail cell. The buzzing noise of a key being scanned echoed through the room.

"Likely coming back to try and get more information out of me," Ezra whispered.

A cold resolve took over the agent. His opportunities for forgiveness had passed, but he would seek revenge for the people he had hurt…again. Ricco would pay, at whatever cost. Ezra summoned every bit of strength he had left and pulled himself to his feet.

He was ready when the large steel door creaked open. Ezra launched and threw himself at the intruder. The intruder was bigger but Ezra had the element of surprise. A few seconds later, Ricco's bodyguard was laying on the ground out cold.

"Damn," Ezra swore. He clutched his stomach. It had been a short fight, but it taken a lot out the already exhausted man. Slowly and painfully Ezra bent down and reached into the man's pocket. He laughed out loud when he found what he was looking for


	6. Chapter 6

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**Chapter 6**

JD started tapping the desk beneath the keyboard mindlessly. The computer screen no longer kept his attention. Usually, he could spend hours playing World of Warcraft, but there were too many other distractions tonight. JD laughed at the absurdity of the word distraction. Distraction didn't even begin to explain what he had happened tonight..In the last few hours, he had thought his adoptive sister was dead, had a gun pointed at his head, and oh yeah, learned that everything that had happened in his life was basically one big fat lie.

JD let the thought in his head simmer for a little while as he looked around the room he was sitting. Chris and Buck had driven here a few hours earlier with their prisoner. There had been a short discussion about what to do with him, but both men agreed it best to take JD with them. They had driven about half an hour to the old building one of the business districts of Denver to what JD had thought was Ezra and his team's insurance office.

In an attempt to humor the mood, Buck had told him that they called it the Bullpen because it where they all hung out before they got called out to go on an assignment and that everyone hated spending time there.

JD looked around at the desks. The other desks all had funny decorations on them, but not the one he was sitting at. A computer, a box of Kleenex, a small pencil holder and two pictures were the only things on top of his uncle's desk. One of the pictures was of himself and Milagro, taken when JD had gotten the horse for his birthday. The next picture was of himself, Ezra and Eboni at a cross-country meet last fall. The room looked like any other office complex, except for the fact that there were four scary men downstairs in a basement that nobody knew about probably torturing the man who had almost killed him, and might have killed his uncle.

JD felt his eyes start to tear up when the thought hit him. Ezra e couldn't be dead. It wasn't possible. He had finally gotten over his mom's death. Life had just started to be going good again. He was part of a family, Ezra and him and Ebbi. He realized his was crying. He slid his knees up on top of the computer chair and curled himself into a ball. He was so absorbed in his own tragic thoughts; he didn't hear the door to the basement open.

Buck walked up, so furious he was shaking. They hadn't gotten a word out of the sorry son of a bitch. He, Chris, Vin and Josiah had tried every technique they knew. The young Ricco had faced every legal interrogation method in the book. If the bastard didn't stop talking soon, things where going to get ugly very quickly.

He looked around the room. His eyes finally rested on the computer chair where a little human ball was crying. The man felt his heart melting with pity.

"Aww Kid," he sighed. He walked over and put a hand on JD's shoulder. He was stressed out and worried. He could only imagine what the fifteen year old was feeling right now.

"Hey JD, you want to talk about it?" he asked.

JD looked up at him with big sad eyes, and Buck felt himself start tearing up.

"Wh-Wha-What-hap-pppp-nned to my u-nnn-cccccle?" JD stuttered, as he gasped for breath.

Buck grabbed some Kleenexes and handed them to JD.

"I wish I could tell you JD. More than anything, I wish I could tell you that he's okay, but I can't." JD nodded his head and looked down at his feet.

"But if I know anything about your uncle," Buck added in a fierce tone. "He's trying his damn hardest to get back to you."

"You think so?" JD asked.

"I know so," Buck answered confidently. "God Kid, you're all he ever talks about. If ears could really fall off, we all would have lost ours a long time ago.

Buck saw the small trace of a smile on JD's face.

"So Ezra and the rest of you are really spies for the state department?"

"Yup," Buck answered with a smile He could see the wheels turning in JD's head knowing there was more coming.

"But how is that possible? Chris said his reputation was ruined after he was framed for my dad's murder.

"Well, that's a long story Kid."

JD raised his eyebrows and looked up at Buck expectantly.

"Hold on a second," Buck stated. He pulled out his cell phone.

"Josiah do you got everything covered down there? I need to have a little talk with JD." He hung up the phone. "Alright kid, so yeah Ezra's reputation at the CIA was pretty much ruined. But there were still plenty of people who needed his expertise on Middle Eastern affairs. Banks, millionaires, companies would send him oversees to do their business. He could speak the language, he knew the culture, and he would risk his life for pretty much anything they wanted.

"Risk his life? Why?"

"He didn't really care about himself after your father died. The only thing he really cared about at that point was making money. He was pretty darn good at it too."

"But how did he end up working…"

"Hold your horses. I'm getting there," Buck chuckled. "So he continued to do his work until he found out about your mom. That's when he came to live with the two of you. When you first went to live with him, do you remember what happened right after your mom's funeral?

"Yeah, I had to go live in foster care for three weeks until Ezra could finalize the adoption papers. The judge said that he needed to find a real job. That's when he got the job at the insurance comp…Wait!"

Buck smiled. "Something doesn't add up now that you know the whole story does it kid? You see a little over a year ago, Undersecretary of State Orin Travis gets this great idea to start a team of men to fight terrorism that will answer only to the State Department to avoid all the bureaucratic bullshit that prevents anything from ever getting done."

"But that's illegal! It's…"

"There's nothing illegal about it kid, when it's an Executive Order. We just have to make sure we don't do anything that's going to get ours or the government's asses in trouble."

"We, you mean…"

"Your uncle, me, Vin, Josiah, Nathan, Ebbi, and Chris, he's the official leader of the team. "

"But how did all of you get picked?"

"Well Chris and I were members of the SEALS at the time. When Travis offered him the job, he was a few days away from being dishonorably discharged."

"For what?" JD

"Insubordination."

This statement perked up JD's interest.

"Chris punched his commanding officer after three of Chris's men were severely injured during a mission in Somalia. They never should have been there in the first place and Chris was absolutely livid. Somehow Travis found his name and figured he would be a good man to lead his anti-terrorism task force. Chris could either take the jo or face time in the slammer.

"And you?" How did you end up joining the team? JD asked.

"Chris and I have been buddies since we were in basic training. I was Best Man at his wedding. We lost touch after that and I took a job with the NSA. When Chris was putting together his team, he asked me to join him. Naturally I said yes." Besides I was facing some disciplinary action of my own." He added rather sheepishly.

JD looked at him suspiciously

"Why?".

"Well, you see I kind of had this affair thing going with the wife of an admiral. But that's beside the point," Buck chuckled nervously. You'll be wanting to know how the other guys became part of the team."

JD nodded his head and waited.

"Well, let me see, I guess Vin would have been the next person added to the team. Chris and I are both pretty damn good shots, but Travis wanted a specially trained sharpshooter to carry out certain tricky situations if the need arose."

"You mean assassinations," JD stated.

"Vin's file was the first one that Chris looked at. He didn't bother to even open up any others. Chris invited the army ranger for a drink to talk things over and the next day Tanner was the third member of our team.

Nathan came a few days later. It seemed like a good idea to have an ex army medic on our team, plus his current job with Homeland Security had trained him in the use of electronics and all that computer crap."

"Nathan knows about computers?" JD asked surprised. He hadn't realized that about the man before.

"Well more than the rest of us," Buck chuckled. "Wouldn't doubt that you know more than he does kid."

"What about Josiah?"

"Josiah's an expert on Middle Eastern affairs which most of our work is centered around, although if you ask that man is a walking encyclopedia on just about anything.

He's worked as a consultant with the FBI, CIA, ATF and just about every other agency that makes up the American government's bureaucracy alphabet soup. Plus he knows how to use a gun which is a big bonus."

"How did you find out about Ezra?"

"Our first mission was to take out a drug lord hiding in the Southern part of Yemen. It didn't take us long to realize that we were in way over our heads. Despite all our diverse military training and knowledge, we stuck out like sore thumbs in that region. We almost lost Josiah after only two days. It became apparent that we needed more help."

"We had to abort the mission and it seemed like our team was going to fall apart even before we got started. That's when Chris brought up your uncle's name. He proposed the idea to Travis. Travis didn't want to take the gamble. He said your uncle was too untrustworthy. He had heard the rumors from the CIA."

"But he didn't do it!" JD protested.

'Of course he didn't," Buck stated "and Chris knew it. He went to talk to your uncle about joining the team. This was only a few days after your mother's funeral. Ezra laughed in Chris's face and told him to get out of his house."

"Then what happened?" JD asked. This was starting to get interesting.

"Chris played dirty. He and Travis arranged that if he didn't take the job, he would loose custody of you."

"That's awful!" JD answered.

"Yeah, it kind of was, but it worked. You should ask Ezra about it now. I don't think he holds any grudges."

"And Ebbi?"

"You weren't the only one Ezra kept track on all those years. Ebbi was following her father's footprints and currently working her way through the ranks of the CIA. They were putting a lot into her because she was a fluent Arabic speaker and because of her looks.

"Her looks?"

"Pretty Middle Eastern woman could sure come in handy for undercover work. The higher ups at Langley were pretty pissed when Ezra was able to snatch her away from them so easily."

"Why did she leave?"

"I don't think she was ever real happy working for the organization that basically murdered her father. She said a few weeks after she joined the team that her goal was to find evidence that would link Robert to your dads' murders."

JD listened to the story intently, but his thoughts strayed back to Ezra as soon as soon as the man finished talking. He was unable to prevent the tears that started to spill from his eyes. Buck put and arm around the boy's shoulder and pulled the teen close to him.

"And you don't have to worry about yourself Kid. If anything happens to Ezra, any one of us here would take care of you."

"Could I come live with you?" JD asked.

"Sure kid, but Chris has got a pretty nice house with horses and everything." He laughed at the terrified look JD got on his face. "He's really a good guy once you get to know him."

JD was about to say something, when his pocket started to move and make a funny noise.

"Is that a cellphone?" Buck asked.

"I was using the clock while I was running," JD answered, thinking the jog with Vin. That seemed like it had occurred in another life now. "Guess I never took it out. Should I answer it?"

"Who would call you at two in the morning?" Buck asked.

"I don't know," JD looked at the screen of his IPhone. "I don't recognize the number."

"Don't answer it then, wait for them to leave a message" Buck answered. They both waited for the phone to stop vibrating. A few seconds later, the phone beeped showing that whoever had called had left a voicemail message.

JD entered his security code and waited. When the voice of the caller finally reached his ear, He almost dropped the phone in surprise.

"Ezra, is that you?" JD cried.

Buck looked up in surprise.

"JD?" Ezra's voice sounded sad and desperate. "I am so sorry for what happened to Eboni. If I had known that..." the man choked up. "I never meant to put either of you in any danger. I have been responsible for so much pain in your life…"

The phone was ripped out of JD's hand.

"Hey!" he screamed.

"Sorry Kid," Buck answered. "I gotta talk to him first. Run downstairs and get the others."

"But…" JD protested, wanting nothing more than to talk to his uncle right now.

"You can talk to him when I'm done if there's time," Buck answered. He could see JD's face getting red. "JD, Ezra's in deep trouble right now. I'm going to try and figure out how to get him out, but I need to figure out what the hell is going on. Go get Chris and the others."

JD nodded his head.

"Good boy," Buck squeezed JD's shoulder before the teen ran down the stairs.

Buck waited until the door was closed and then called the number backup. He put the phone to his ear.

"JD? Where did you go?" Ezra's voice croaked. Instantly, Buck knew that his friend was not in good shape.

"Damn Ezra, what did you get yourself into now?"

"Buck?" the man asked in surprise.

"The one and only. We got JD with us at the office. Chris told him everything and…"

"Buck, I am so sorry," Ezra interrupted. "He traced the emails I sent home, I had no idea the servers weren't working."

"What?" Buck asked dumfounded. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Ebbi," Ezra stated. "Ricco said that his nephew saw her jump out of the window and…" the other end of sentence went dead. It suddenly dawned on Buck what Ezra was talking about.

"She ain't dead Ezra," Buck stated with a small chuckle.

"What?" Ezra asked in surprise.

"She's not in good shape, busted ankle, bullet hole in her shoulder, and God knows how many bumps and bruises, but Nate says that she's going to be just fine."

He could hear Ezra let out a load sigh of relief.

"Thank God!. It was worse than when her father…"

"I know Ezra," Buck interrupted Now was not the time for the man to relive the memory of Sawyer and Dunne's deaths. "But what about you? I'm assuming you've been compromised."

"I am currently somewhere in Ricco's compound. One of Ricco's bodyguards was generous enough to donate his phone to my cause."

'Shit Ezra, how the hell are you going to get out of there?" Buck swore. He could hear boots trudging up the stairs.

There was a slight hesitation at the end of the line.

"Well my friend, when I found out that this son of a bitch had killed Ebbi…"

Buck cringed, knowing exactly what Ezra had been planning.

"You bastard! You weren't planning on getting out of there were you?

"That time has passed, I can assure you." Ezra stated. "Obviously, I need to come up with other plans."

Buck was about to respond when he felt the phone ripped out of his hand similar to what he had done to JD.

"You son of a bitch!" Chris yelled in the phone. "What the hell were you thinking?" Apparently everyone else had come up. be.

"Chris, can you put him on speaker phone?" JD asked hesitantly.

"Huh?" Chris asked, looking at him.

"This," JD answered, taking the phone, pushing the button and setting it down on the table. Everyone caught the end of Ezra's response.

"…so I can assure you that the events of the last few hours have been completely out of my control."

"Like hell, but we don't have time to worry about that now." Chris responded. "Where are you now?"

"I am currently sitting in some small room, I'm assuming in the basement of the compound. I was quite unaware when they moved me from the room where I was meeting with Ricco. There are no guards chasing me yet, but I have already looked at the security system. I must say that I am very impressed."

"What are your chances of breaking out of there?" Chris asked.

"Regrettably slim to none," Ezra responded. While he was talking, Vin had pulled out his own cell phone and left the room. "The security here is state of the art. NSA had tried several times to break the codes and I've even tried myself on my computer while still considered a guest, but I had no luck."

"Shit," Chris cursed..

"This ain't looking good," Buck stated, speaking for them all. There was a long awkward silence.

"Uncle Ezra?" JD asked tentively breaking the silence.

"JD?" Ezra was obviously taken by the change of speakers.

"I hear you have had quite an evening." He stated collecting himself.

"Yeah," JD answered. All of a sudden all of emotions came to a boiling point. He was relieved, scared, sad and angry all at the same time.

"How come you never told me?" JD asked, "about my dad, about what you really are, about anything!"

"JD, please understand I was trying to protect you."

"Yeah, you sure did a fine job of it tonight!" JD yelled before running out the door, almost running into Nathan pushing Eboni in a wheelchair. Vin caught Chris and Buck's eye.

"My turn," he said, before sprinting back the room's two new occupants.

"What the hell?" Nathan asked. Then she saw the cell phone on the table.

"Is that who I think it is?" Ebony asked.

"Best tell him that you are alive Ebbi," Josiah told her.

.

Eboni put her hands on the wheel and wheeled herself closer to the phone. Nathan had his mouth open in protest, but decided against it.

"Ezra, are you okay?" she asked.

"I think I should be asking you the same thing," Ezra stated.

Nathan walked up and stood next to Chris. The team leader was shifting nervously from foot to foot.

"She going to be okay?" Chris asked Nathan quietly.

"Well, she had a concussion. She's supposed to stay off the ankle for a few weeks and her shoulder is probably going to hurt for quite a while, but the doctor says she'll make a compete recovery."

"She didn't need to stay for observation with her concussion?"

"Well what the doctor and Ebbi wanted are two different things," Nathan sighed.

"Why didn't you make her stay?" Chris asked, anger rising.

"I would have loved to have seen you try," Nathan challenged.

Chris sighed, knowing Nathan was right. "Alright Ezra, let's talk."

here...


	7. Chapter 7

Paste your document here...

**Chapter 7**

"Whoa easy there Kid."

JD almost knocked Vin over as he flew out the door. Vin put his arms around the teen, preventing him running any father.

"Let me go!" JD yelled,

"Not until you tell me what is wrong," Vin stated calmly.

"I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to talk to anyone. All of you are a bunch of liars!"

"I suppose we all deserve that," Vin said with a sigh. "Will you take a minute to calm down and listen to me, before I let you run out into the street all alone?"

JD stopped trying to break free and Vin let him go.

"Why do you think nobody told you who we really were?" Vin asked.

"Because you all wanted to protect me!" JD said sarcastically. "I'm sick of hearing it! The only reason you're saying it because you can't think of a better reason!"

"Yeah, well how would you have felt if he knew where he was going all the time? Or the real reason Ebbi came to help watch over you and keep you safe? Ezra really does love you Kid. He wanted you to have as normal a life as possible and I say he's done a pretty darn good job. Wouldn't you say that he's been there for you when you've needed him?"

"Yeah," JD sighed.

"Well he needs you to be mature and act like an adult right now. I know you're smart enough to understand that he's in deep shit right now. Don't put the extra stress of him having to worry about you right now as well. He needs you to be strong."

"I was acting like a whiney little kid," JD answered. "I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about," Vin answered. "I'm sure I can speak for everyone and say that I'm sorry we had to keep the secret from you." He paused "Besides, Vin added with a smile, "You are such a little talker. We weren't sure you'd be able to keep your mouth shut!"

"You could have trusted me."

"Yeah, we probably should have, but its over and you know now. He put his arm around JD.

"You've heard things tonight that only a few people in the country know about. That's a pretty big responsibility for a fifteen year old, but I think you can handle it."

JD looked up at him with a smile.

"You think so?"

"Yup, now let's go back inside and see what we can do about making sure your uncle gets back here."

Everyone else looked up as Vin and JD walked back through the door.

"I'm sorry everyone," he stated sheepishly. "Sorry Uncle Ezra," he called louder so the speaker phone could pick up his voice.

"Your anger is justified JD," Ezra stated. "But…"

"But right now we have to find a way to get your ass out of there," Chris broke in "Did you get Tiny?" The question was directed at Vin.

"Had to get him out of bed, but he said he'll have the plane ready to go in an hour."

"Ezra, we are flying down to Mexico to help you. Can you keep yourself alive until then?" Chris asked.

"I don't see what risking your lives down here is going to do even if..."

"Ezra"...no answer

"Ezra, Hey you still there? Oh Hell!"

_IN MEXICO….._

"Shit," he swore, when he realized that the battery had died. "Alright Standish, you are going to have to find your own way out of here."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Anybody figure a way how we are going to get through that damn security system?" Josiah asked. He and Eboni were sitting around Josiah's computer in the office. JD was fast asleep on one of the couches on the right side of the room. The clock on the computer showed that it was almost noon.

"No, but we're open to ideas." Vin's voice came through the computer speakers.

"Before we talk anymore," Buck stated. "Are we sure this phone line is secure. I've been hearing some pretty bad things about Skype accounts lately."

"NSA told us this number would be completely secured," Eboni answered.

"That makes feel a whole lot better." The sarcasm in Buck's voice was unmistakable.

"Where are you exactly?' Eboni asked, glanced out the window.

"We're in an old shack about five miles away from the compound," Vin answered. "Chris and Nathan took out some ATVs to go scan the area and see how close they could get. We also got back-up on stand-by but we aren't going to be able to do anything unless we can get break the code to get inside. Lots of people could die if we just try storming the castle."

"How's the kid holding up?" Buck asked. Eboni and Josiah looked over at the teen.

"Fast asleep for the last two hours," Josiah answered.

"Called out for Ezra a few times."

There was a long pause.

"We got to Ezra out of there for both their sakes," Vin stated.

Before anyone could respond, Ezra's computer started to make a loud ringing noise.

"What the hell?" Eboni stated, and tried to get up. Josiah put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a look. Eboni rolled her eyes.

"Then you go take care of it," she sighed.

Josiah didn't have a chance. JD had suddenly woken up and was in Ezra' chair a second later, typing on the computer.

"Does Ricco have a son?" he asked.

"Yeah I think so," Eboni responded.

"Is his name Gordo?"

"JD, why do you want to…"

"Is name Gordo?" JD asked more forcibly.

"Buck, do you know if Ricco has a kid named Gordo?" Josiah asked, loud enough so the people on the other side of the Skype line could hear.

"I don't know. Vin, do you know?"

"Nope. JD why the sudden interest?" The three people at the office heard the door slam on the other end.

"The whole place is in frenzy right now," Chris stated. "Looks like Ricco's son just got back from his boarding school last night."

"Is his name Gordo?' four voices asked at once.

"Yeah, why?" Chris asked.

"JD wants to know," Eboni responded. "Now will you tell me what you are doing?" she directed the question at the teen. A small smile appeared on JD's face.

"I can't tell you just yet, give me a couple of minutes." Despite the protests of Josiah, Eboni used her good foot to wheel herself over to JD.

"Facebook? Right now?"

'Just hold on," JD responded. "I may have a way to get into the security system." Eboni and Josiah watched JD in quiet awe as JD opened up Gordo Ricco's Facebook page and copy the posted email address.

"JD, how did you become friends with Ricco's son on Facebook?" Ebbi asked.

JD opened up his profile page. A picture of a beautiful blonde model appeared.

"That's how," JD responded. "Who wouldn't want to be friends with that? I searched for the name Ricco online and this kid's name popped up. I created a Facebook profile for this girl and then invited him to be her friend."

JD opened up his email and pasted in Gordo's address.

"JD, what are you…" Eboni started to say.

"Shhh," Josiah scolded. "Let the boy work." He continued to watch fascinated, as JD's hands moved nimbly around the keyboard. This was a learning experience for him. His students had talked about Facebook several times, but he still did not understand it.

"Uncle Ezra took a zip drive of mine before he left," JD stated. "Do you know if he brought it here?"

"The one with the computer virus on it?" Eboni asked..

"Technically it's a worm, but yeah," JD responded.

"What the hell is going on over there?" Chris's voice came over the computer speakers across the room.

'Give us a couple of minutes," three voices called back.

Eboni opened up Ezra's top drawer and pulled out a small white zip drive.

"Just what are you planning on doing with it?" she asked suspiciously.

"One second," JD responded, taking the flash drive and putting it into the computer.

"Somebody want to enlighten me to what's going on?" Josiah asked.

"I made friends with Gordo's son on Facebook to get his email address," JD explained. "I'mgoing to send this little worm guy through this email and when Gordo opens up the email, it will infect the computer and knock out the security system."

"JD , you're a genius!" Ebony exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek.

"Someone want to tell us what you kids are playing that over there?" a voice said from Josiah's computer.

"How do you think Travis would feel if we wanted to put a fifteen year old on our pay role?" Josiah walked over and chuckled.

"Hold on," Nathan said. "JD doesn't Gordo's computer need to be on the same network as the security system?"

"Yeah," JD yelled back. "That's the only problem."

"How will we know if it's working?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out," JD responded.

In Mexico…

Ezra ducked behind around a corner and hid as two guards walked right by him. It had been almost four hours since the cell phone had died on him. Since then he had been playing cat and mouse with Ricco's men. So far, the mouse was winning. Ezra had been able to use the size of Ricco's compound to his advantage.

When the agent was sure the men were gone, he got to his feet. He clenched his teeth so he would not cry out in pain. His ribs were not holding up well. He wasn't sure how much longer he could last. He knew, without a doubt, that his team was working hard to get him out, but he was beginning to wonder if they would be able to get here on time.

He heard footsteps from another person coming down the hallway. He looked around desperately. There was no place for him to hide this time. The sweat began pouring down his forehead. He did the only thing he could think of. He turned around and ran, the heels of shoes making clicking noises on the floor. He cursed at himself as he ran. Why hadn't he thought to take them off? The footsteps of his soon to be assailant hit the ground faster. The man was now running, chasing him. His body screamed in protest. It wouldn't be long before his assailant overtook him.

The hall ended and Ezra was forced to make a sharp turn to the right. A sudden idea occurred to him. It was crazy, but it was the only option he could think of at the moment. He stopped right where the corridor changed direction and waited until the footsteps were only a few feet away from him, As soon as he knew the other man was close, he took off at run. It was only a few seconds before he felt impact. Ezra's didn't think that running into a rock could possibly hurt more.

He stumbled backwards, fighting to keep his balance.

"What the…." The other man cursed, completely caught off guard. The man did fall over like Ezra had intended, but his head had made contact with the other man's hand. The gun went flying and skidded across the ground into a corner.

Even in his dazed state, Ezra knew that he had to get that gun. He lunged for the weapon As soon as the man pulled himself to his feet, Ezra was pointing it straight at his chest.

The other man didn't even flinch.

"Shoot me, I dare you," the man challenged. "The sound will send the whole damn compound down here."

"You're right," Ezra agreed. He lunged forward and delivered a well placed kick, knocking the man off balance. Ezra used the butt of the gun to hit the man in the head. The man crumpled to the ground. "Besides killing you only means more tedious paperwork I have to fill out when I get home."

Ezra continued to walk down the hallway. He had no idea where he was going and no clue what he was going to do next. There was a door leading up to a stairway. He tired to open it. The door was locked.

"Of course," Ezra answered shaking his head. He noticed the small security box on the right side of the wall. He was about to walk away when he heard a loud click.

"Hmmm" Ezra mused aloud. Trying to figure out what the clicking noise meant. An idea suddenly occurred to him. He walked over and tried opening the door again. This time it opened with ease. A small smile appeared on the agent's face. He would have to ask Nathan how he managed to accomplish that.

He walked up the numerous flights of stairs. He passed by a window and saw that the sun was high in the sky. He had left the basement of the compound. He kept climbing upwards until he reached another door. He raised the gun and walked inside.

"Who are you?"

Ezra was standing in a posh office, not unlike the one he had been in when he had last seen Ricco. He was standing right in front of a computer desk. A young man was looking right at him.

Ezra had to pull himself together quickly and lowered his gun. He plastered a reassuring smile on his face while thinking fast.

"You must be Gordo," he stated. "You are the spitting image of your father."

"And you are?" Gordo asked, nervously.

"One of your father's associates," Ezra answered. "I just came up from checking the storage facilities."

"Those are on the other side of the compound," the boy stated, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

" Well, I…I decided to take a little tour of your home," Ezra stuttered only slightly. He saw the boy wrinkle up his nose when he heard the term home. He has assessed that this boy was not a threat, at least not at the moment. Perhaps he had a potential ally.

"Do I sense you displeasure at this fine establisment?' Ezra asked, moving towards the desk slowly.

"This isn't my home," the boy answered.

'Oh?" Ezra asked when he got closer. He realized that boy was not much younger than JD. The boy shut his mouth as if he realized that he said something he shouldn't have.

By this time, Ezra had worked his way up to the desk. He glanced over and saw that boy had opened up Facebook.

The boy quickly closed the screen when he realized that Ezra's interest in his computer.

"Excuse me," Ezra answered. "I did not been to be rude. Perhaps I was intruding on some interesting wall chat with one of your many Facebook friends?"

"You know about Facebook?' the kid asked.

"I have a nephew about your age," Ezra smiled, warming to the boy. "He often spends hours on it. Tell me, do you use it to procrastinate doing homework too?"

The boy looked down at the table, not making eye contact. "Yeah, that and other things." Ezra knew this reaction well. He had seen JD use it many times when he was trying to hide something.

"Your American accent is wonderful son. Am I correct in assuming you are attending a school in the States?"

The boy nodded in confirmation.

"You must miss your parents quite a bit," Ezra kept on talking.

"Yeah, I haven't seen my mom in…" the boy shot his mouth quick. "You should stop talking now!" Gordo yelled.

"I am sorry Mr. Ricco," Ezra apologized. "If you are…"

He stopped talking when the door to the office swung open.

"Gordo, your damn computer just knocked out my security system!"

The senior Ricco stormed through the door. He was completely caught of guard when he saw what he had walked into.

"Standish, what the hell are you doing here?"

The second Ezra had heard the door handle turn; he had jumped across the desk. He now had Gordo in a tight choke hold with the gun pointed straight at his head.

"Let go of him now!" Ricco answered. "I will kill you with my own two hands!"

"Ahh Sir, I do believe you are in no position to make such threats," Ezra stated calmly. He had no intention of hurting the boy, but Ricco had to think he was serious.

"My men will be up here shortly with weapons," Ricco stated pulling out a beeper out of his pocket.

"I only need one shot," Ezra responded. "I do not want to kill your son Ricco, but I have a nephew that is waiting for me to come home." He pushed the gun a little harder against Gordo's head. Ricco dropped the beeper to the ground.

"Please don't hurt me," Gordo wheezed quietly. "My mother…" he pleaded.

"Gordo, don't say another word!' Ricco bellowed.

"What about your mother? Ezra asked. He released his hold slightly so the boy could talk more easily.

"She needs me! I am the only way he will give her money to feed my sister and herself!" Ezra almost dropped his gun in surprise, almost.

"What do you mean, your mother needs you?" Ezra asked.

.

"My mother was a pretty prostitute this bastard picked up on the street. He held her hostage until he knew she was pregnant! When my sister and I were born, he kept me and tossed mom back onto the street. He said he would pay her if she kept her mouth closed about what he had done.

"How did you find out…" Rico started to say.

"My sister was able to find me on Facebook last year and sent me a message. I started to do my on research and I figured everything else out. I've been talking to my mom and Rosana for the last few months.

"There, you see the boy means nothing to me!' Ricco yelled, reaching down for the beeper. Ezra fired a warning shot, not caring about the sound. He took his arm off of Gordo's neck, but kept his gun on him.

"Then why have you insisted on taking me away from my real family?" Gordo yelled back. "As soon as you married Carmen, you realized that she couldn't carry children. You were embarrassed when you found out. Every drug lord in Mexico has an heir to the family business. Those who didn't have sons would train nephews or even their daughters. You had nothing but a crazed nephew who you knew would drive the business to the ground. I was your best option!"

Ezra wasn't quite sure how to handle this situation. The last think he expected was the punch to his stomach. It would not have fazed him normally, but his ribs could not stand the pain. He doubled over clutching his stomach. The gun flew out of his hand.

Through dazed eyes, he could see Gordo standing over with his father with the gun in his hand.

"Now I'm going to have my revenge for everything you have done," Gordo screamed. His hands were shaking badly. Ezra saw what was going to happen next, but could do nothing to stop it.

Ricco reached up and easily pulled the gun out of his son's hands. He pushed Gordo down to the ground. The drug lord looked at Ezra and Gordo with glee.

"This is too easy," he laughed. "I've got the story all worked out. The American cop sneaks up to my office and kills my son. I will be in total grief. Of course, I will let law enforcement into my home to investigate. They will find nothing and I will be free to carry on my work." He looked at Gordo.

"I am sorry it had to end this way hijo," Ricco stated, raising his gun. Ezra closed his eyes, knowing that there was nothing he could do. Images of his friends flashed through his mind. He wanted his last thought to be about JD.

A gunshot echoed throughout the whole room. Ezra opened his eyes and was able to move out of the way before Ricco's body fell on top of him. .

Vin was standing in the doorway with a gun in hand a look of steel determination on his face.

For a second, Ezra was at a loss for words.

"Cat finally got your tongue Ezra?" Vin asked in mock disbelief.

"Mr. Tanner, your timing is impeccable." Ezra breathed a sigh of relief.

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	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"When they will be here?" JD asked impatiently. "Their plane landed almost twenty minutes ago!"

"Relax JD, you know it usually takes a while for every one to get off the plane." Josiah told him, patting his knee.

"Ezra isn't going to be happy about having to fly back commercial," Ebbi chuckled, looking just as anxious as JD.

Josiah looked anxious too. The truth was he was anxious too. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand waiting in the baggage claim. He looked at young woman who was sitting in the wheelchair. He had delivered her an ultimatum. She allow him to push her in it or she wasn't coming at all.

"You doing alright?" he asked. "Nathan will kill me if he thinks I haven't taken good enough care of you."

"I'll be better when they get here," she answered.

"Me too," Josiah answered.

It had been two days since the compound had been invaded. It had been JD's computer worm that had knocked out Ricco's computer system. JD had been able to find the codes that allowed Chris and the others plus a large contingent of FBI and Mexican law enforcement agents into the compound. Vin's bullet had killed the drug lord, and the rest of Ricco's men were now facing numerous drug dealing and murder charges.

Chris, Ezra, and the others were ordered to stay in Mexico until they had helped with the clean up and had given their statements. They were finally allowed to return home a few days later.

"There they are!" JD exclaimed. He took off sprinting towards the returning agents He nearly fell on his face when he slipped on the slick floor.

Josiah and Ebbi laughed.

'Hard to believe that he was able to break into one of the word's top security systems isn't it?" Ebbi smiled.

"That's a good thing," Josiah answered. "After all, he is only fifteen years old."

JD slowed down when he saw that Ezra was limping slightly. Chris noticed that Ezra started beaming the moment he saw his adoptive nephew.

"I believe I am in your debt," Ezra stated formally as his nephew walked up to him. JD wrapped his arms around Ezra and the agent gratefully returned the hug.

"That makes everything worth it, don't it?" Buck whispered in Nathan's ear.

Nathan smiled in agreement.

"Maybe he won't be such a cranky pain in the ass now," he whispered back.

"I heard that," Ezra whispered sharply.

'It was nothing," JD answered, when he finally let his uncle go. "Are you okay?'

"Nothing that a few days rest won't fix," Ezra answered. Ezra leaned on JD's shoulder as the group walked over to join Josiah and Eboni.

"You look like hell," Eboni told Ezra when he walked over to her.

"I might suggest a mirror," Ezra stated, but his limp did seem to improve after he had clasped her hand.

"So I think everybody deserves a few days off after Travis and some bigwigs from the Pentagon are flying here to meet with the team."

"They're coming here?" Vin asked. "That seems strange."

"Do you want to have to travel to Washington?" Chris asked.

"Hell no!" Vin answered.

"Besides Travis wants to meet the boy wonder who brought down one of Mexico's biggest drug cartels, but Ezra says JD couldn't go to Washington cause it was in the middle of the school week."

"Really Ezra?" JD protested.

"No JD," Ezra stated. "I'm sure these last couple days have already set you back in your homework. Besides you and I are due to have a talk about what is a appropriate school prank." JD looked sheepishly at his feet, but the others caught the look of amusement in Ezra's eyes. "Somehow I have feeling taking down the one of the biggest drug cartels in the world is over trumps hacking into a school's grading system."

"It was nothing," JD answered again, blushing.

"Come on, let's all go home," Buck stated, pulling the kid into a headlock.

Chris hesitated a moment, looking at JD.

"Ezra told me that you guys have been boarding your horses at some exclusive stables. It seems kind of stupid when I've got a ranch of my own."

"Really?" JD asked.

"Why don't you stop by Sunday afternoon and check it out." he hesitated, before looking at the rest of his team. " Hell, why doesn't everyone come out and we can throw some burgers on the grill."

"All of us?" Nathan asked. The team had been together a while now, but they had rarely done anything together outside of work..

"Sure," Chris answered, shrugging his shoulders.

They group continued walking.

"JD, have you cleaned your room like I asked since I've been gone."

"Hell no!" JD answered.

"Good Lord. You've been exposed to these cretins for a few days and their already influencing you too much." Buck put his arm around Ezra's shoulder.

"Better get used to it Pard, because there's going to be a lot more of it!"

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